Commercial Strategy and Audit Manager

Job description

Manager, Strategy & Commercial Advisory Application Deadline: 29 October 2026 Department: Strategy & Commercial Advisory Employment Type: Permanent Location: Riyadh Reporting To: Director, Strategy & Commercial Advisory Description A Career with the employer Working for the employer means the opportunity to work on the world’s most iconic projects in a supportive, people-first environment with colleagues who are passionate, collaborative and love what they do. Our culture is grounded in trust and fulfilment, with a shared passion for achieving excellence, whilst having fun. We’re dedicated to ensuring that every team member’s voice is heard and valued, enabling the employer to be shaped and grown by the people within it. Ultimately, the employer is a place where you’ll be excited to come to work at the start of each week. Together, we keep our shared values at the heart of everything we do: · Passion: We love what we do and care passionately about achieving great outcomes with our partners. · Trust & Quality: We are trusted to consistently deliver to the highest international standards and professional ethics. · OneTeam: We are a close-knit team and know that our best work is done together. We care for each other, always putting people first, enabling us to deliver our best work. · Always Evolving: We don't stand still. We strive to make each project better than the last, the employer to challenge what's gone before, in our the employer for innovation and improvement. About the employer the employer provide advisory, design and delivery services to major events, venues, destinations and sports organisations. Founded in 2013 from the success of the London 2012 Games, we have grown to over 100 specialists across three global offices in London, Dubai, and Riyadh, delivering over 260 projects in 26 countries. Our Riyadh office sits at the heart of one of the most ambitious sport, events and destination programmes in the world. In support of Saudi Vision 2030, we work with government entities, giga-projects and rights holders across the Kingdom, including Qiddiya, Expo 2030 Riyadh and the Ministry of Sport. Our unique “One Team” approach brings together the right expertise at the right time, synchronising strategy, design, project management, and operations to simplify complexity and deliver actionable solutions that drive meaningful impact. We passionately share our knowledge to empower local teams, unlocking the full potential of each unique experience to inspire positive change and create lasting legacies. That’s what we mean by creating experiences, better About Strategy & Commercial Advisory Our Strategy & Commercial Advisory business unit provides consultancy services to venues, events, and sports organisations. In the Kingdom, this means supporting the delivery of Vision 2030 and the Quality of Life Program, from mega-event hosting and venue legacy planning to the development and commercialisation of the Saudi sports ecosystem. · Venues - We provide strategic, economic and financial advice to investors, operators and owners on the development and operation of venues. o Market Analysis & Needs Assessment o Feasibility Study & Business Case Development o Economic & Social Impact Assessment o Venue Performance Benchmarking & Assessment o Operator Assessment, Procurement & Contracting o Sustainability Advisory o Legacy & Post-Event Use Planning for Mega-Event Venues · Events - We advise host cities, rights holders, and government clients across the entire event lifecycle from bidding through to evaluation and legacy. o Event Strategy Development o Event Impact Framework & Assessment o Event Selection and Portfolio Assessment o Event Feasibility Studies o End-to-End Bid Advisory & Support o Mega-Event Hosting Readiness & Government Stakeholder Coordination o Post-Event Evaluation & Reporting · Sports - We support federations, leagues, and clubs to tackle the challenges and capitalise on the opportunities in their respective sports. o Strategy & Policy Development o Funding and Investment Strategy o Operational & Governance Design & Review o Commercial & Sponsorship Strategy & Implementation o Performance, Participation and Membership Strategy o Club Privatisation & Investment Readiness About the Role We are looking for a Manager to join our Strategy & Commercial Advisory Team on a permanent basis, with an initial focus on integrated planning for a major international event. You will combine practical mega-event planning experience with strong strategy and advisory skills, helping client teams translate objectives into coordinated plans, clear responsibilities and timely decisions. Expo experience is strongly preferred. Your primary focus will be client delivery: coordinating functional plans, analysing dependencies and planning gaps, and producing clear recommendations and decision materials. You will also support wider advisory assignments, proposals, team development and improvements to our ways of working, in line with project priorities. The role is based in Riyadh and may require work at client locations, travel within the Kingdom and international travel to meet project needs. To come on this journey with us, you will have a great sense of humour, be incredibly resourceful and creative, and relish a challenge. Key Responsibilities Integrated event planning • Lead assigned integrated planning workstreams, translating event objectives into coordinated functional plans with agreed milestones, owners, assumptions and dependencies. • Work with functional leads to challenge planning gaps, align interfaces and resolve conflicting requirements, escalating decisions that need senior direction. • Facilitate planning workshops and maintain clear records of actions, decisions, risks and issues, with accountable owners and follow-up. • Develop practical governance and reporting arrangements that show progress, emerging constraints and the decisions needed to protect key milestones. • Support readiness planning by agreeing evidence requirements, identifying gaps and coordinating corrective actions with the relevant teams. • Venues: • Contribute to venue operating models, business planning, feasibility assessments and benchmarking where these support event planning or wider advisory assignments. • Sports: • Contribute to strategy, governance and commercial advisory assignments across sport where required, while prioritising the integrated planning engagement. • General responsibilities: • Manage day-to-day relationships with assigned client stakeholders in English and Arabic, facilitate alignment across teams and escalate material decisions to the Director or engagement lead. • Build and maintain the employer’s network across the Saudi sport, events and destination ecosystem • Lead Arabic-language client deliverables and presentations, ensuring outputs meet l

Requirements

• We passionately share our knowledge to empower local teams, unlocking the full potential of each unique experience to inspire positive change and create lasting legacies.
• That’s what we mean by creating experiences, better
• You will combine practical mega-event planning experience with strong strategy and advisory skills, helping client teams translate objectives into coordinated plans, clear responsibilities and timely decisions.
• Expo experience is strongly preferred.
• Contribute to strategy, governance and commercial advisory assignments across sport where required, while prioritising the integrated planning engagement.

Skills